Woodhaven Boulevard is one step closer to becoming safer as the Department of Transportation (DOT) is widening some of the medians for pedestrians crossing the street.
The DOT installed temporary pedestrian safety areas at multiple intersections. These are designated areas that are set off by yellow safety cones that widen the medians for pedestrians to stand on.
The changes come as part of the Woodhaven Boulevard congested corridors study from 2012.
The study outlined the major problems with the busy 3.2-mile thoroughfare from Queens Boulevard to Rockaway Boulevard.
The safety areas have been set up at the intersections of Woodhaven Boulevard and Queens Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway. The DOT is now looking to remove these temporary safety areas and make them permanent by adding concrete to “improve the boulevard’s walkability,” according a spokeswomen.
From Union Turnpike to Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South to Rockaway Boulevard, the corridor stretches out to two main roads and two service roads.
Most of the cement medians along these portions of boulevard that are currently in place are small in width. With narrow medians, there is the danger that one false step for pedestrians could have potentially tragic consequences as traffic is speeding by.
Some of the newer work done by the DOT along the boulevard is in this specific area. Just last week the DOT added a temporary pedestrian safety improvement area at the northbound intersection of 91st Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, which is between Park Lane South and Rockaway Boulevard. The area was surrounded by yellow safety cones and built out beyond the cement to the end the crosswalk.
The DOT did not immediately respond to a request on whether this intersection will be fully built out.
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